Maybe I Should Buy My Tomato Plants @ Verrill Farm Next Year

A few weeks ago (coincidentially, just about when all my tomato plants were biting the dust), I went to a Corn and Tomato Festival at Verrill Farm in Concord, MA. What a bargain.....for a mere six bucks, I got to taste 20+ varieties of tomatoes (including all the ones that I was attempting to grow at home), 6 varieties of corn on the cob, and several tasty dishes featuring corn and/or tomatoes that were made in the farmstand kitchen. The weather could not have been more perfect.....one of those summer days where the sky is an impossible shade of blue, the sun is warm on your face, but not it's not hot, and there is a cool breeze, almost chilly enough for a light jacket. I stupidly had eaten some lunch before I went, so I didn't have a lot of room in my belly for as much sampling as I wanted to do. Probably the best thing I had was a corn polenta. Yum! The festival is held every year in August. I'll definitely go back next year. I also recommend the Asparagus Festival in May.

Uhhh...what did she just say?? Miss Teen South Carolina 2007

What's More Entertaining Than A Pageant!

I was not aware that the Miss Teen USA pageant was airing on Friday night. I just happened to come across it about 10 minutes in when I was flipping around the channels. It's a shame that I had to watch by myself. Pageants are a ritual and must watch for my friend K and I. We often wear our own tiaras and judge from the couch (of course, coming up with our own scoring/ranking system). We actually are very accurate.....Often times, we can pick out the winner of the whole thing just from the opening montage where all 51 contestants introduce themselves. Not to brag, but we are quite impressive! We many times have also picked all the girls who end up in the top 5 just from the start of the show.

We also like to discuss the elements of various pageants that are good and bad.....how the pageant is actually put together.....from the host, how the girls are actually presented, musical selections, question and answer portions (which we agree, there is never enough of.....that's the best part.....as evidenced by the YouTube clip I've posted). I dare say that she and I, if given the opportunity, could put together a stellar pageant, taking portions from the Miss USA, Miss America, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe pageants. We often lament that they don't have a civilian judge amongt the B-list, C-list, and reality tv celebrities on the panel. Our voice is not being heard!

In the past two years, my friend and I have actually gone to two state pageants. That's right! Don't judge......if you went, you would have an amazing 3 hours too. If nothing else, it's worth the price of admission to people watch. Many in the audience are pageant winners so they are wearing their sashes and crowns. Then there are people who come very gussied up in evening gowns, with heavily made up faces and their hair did.....JUST TO WATCH! I love it. I always feel underdressed. Maybe that's the reason K and I always move seats and go to the back, with no one else sitting near us. Or maybe it's more so that we can make fun of stuff and have running commentary during the pageant without fear of disturbing/offending other, more serious, spectators around us. So far we've attended the Miss New Hampshire pageant and the Miss Massachusetts pageant for Miss America. FANTASTIC! Our goal is to hit all the New England state pageants, then perhaps go down a notch and check out one of the pageants leading up to the state pageants. I bet they are brilliant. With of course, our ultimate goal.....going to see Miss USA or Miss America live. I think it will happen.......

The Tumultuous Summer Of My Tomatoes

Back in June or July, I posted lovely pictures of my newly planted heirloom tomato plants. Although I watered diligently, and tended to them the best I knew how, with a heavy, sad heart, I must tell everyone that my plants did not make it. I'm VERY upset. I should be eating a tomato/olive oil/balsamic vinegar salad every night!

They are all in various stages of dying.....one plant, my green zebra stripe, was looking pretty sad when I left for Atlanta. Upon my return, it was totally dead (with 2 lonely tomatoes hanging from a branch). My middle plant, the purple calabash, fell over twice last week on a windy day, and sustained quite a bit of damage. Several of the branches (or stems? not sure what the proper term is) holding tomatoes, broke off. I had high hopes for the last one.....my yellow brandywine. Although not very big, it was starting to develop several tomatoes. All looked good.....until a few days ago, when all of the leaves started turning yellow. Which, I think is what happened to the green zebra before it took a turn for the worse.

I wish I had more knowledge of gardening.....I'm pretty certain they have gotten some disease that just killed the plants. My neighbors have been having trouble with their tomatoes and flowers too. I found it odd, that my plants didn't actually grow all that much once I planted them. They really didn't get tall like last year's plants. Maybe it was all the Miracle Grow I showered them with last year that made them grow so well. That's what I get for getting organic plants, organic soil, and no Miracle Grow. I guess it's back to the good ole chemicals next year!

The newest member of my family

I recently went to Atlanta to visit my sister, my niece Caroline, and to meet my new nephew, Ryan (also known as Little Man). Caroline will be 3 years old at the beginning of October. I see her every few months, but it's amazing the amount she changes in the few months I don't see her. The last time I saw her was at the beginning of May. On this visit, she was talking a ton....and I was pretty amazed at her vocabulary. She is quite the chatty Cathy! She pulled out the word "frustrated" (or "fus-ter-a-ted") and used it in the correct context. We were reading a book for the second time, and she remembered lots of little details from the story. She is quite smart. And sassy! I had to tell her several times that she is not the boss of me.....

Ryan is a little pudgeball. When I first held him, he cried after about 30 seconds. Not sure if it was because he sensed my discomfort around babies (I'm not so good with the babies.....they scare me) or because right now, he is a total momma's boy. Pretty much, most of the time, he wants to be held by mommy. But I'm happy to say, that by the end of the trip, we worked up to me holding him for about 5 minutes before he started to wail. That's progress!

My sister is a great mom. I don't know how she juggles everything. I don't think I could do it!

Can't wait to see them all again at Christmastime.

Ah.....Varsity.....How I miss you so......

Since I moved from Atlanta back in 1999, every visit back I must make a stop at the Varsity. For those not in the know, the Varsity is a burger and hot dog joint. But, it's fantastic. I think it's because the grease is probably about 60 years old. There are several establishments to choose from.

There is the original Varsity, by the Georgia Tech campus which is the big one, right off I-85 and the most famous....from the Varsity Website:

"The World's Largest Drive-in sits on more than two acres and can accommodate 600 cars and over eight hundred people inside. On days of Georgia Tech football games up to 30,000 people visit The Varsity. It sells more than two miles of hotdogs daily, a ton of onion rings, 2500 pounds of fresh cut potatoes, 5000 homemade fried pies, and 300 gallons of chili, all of which are made from scratch daily. The downtown Varsity is also the world's largest single outlet for Coca-Cola."

In my opinion, the original Varsity also has the most character (and characters!). The wait staff stands behind this enormously long counter, barking at the customers "What'll ya have? What'll ya have? Have your money in your hand and your order on your mind! What'll ya have!"

I caution you to have your order down pat before you step up to the counter. These people don't have time for dilly dallying....you most likely will get yelled at.

Then there is the Varsity in Athens, Georgia, near the University of Georgia, where I went to college. I think I went there once the whole time I was at school. After frequenting the Atlanta original so many times, I felt the Athens branch just didn't stack up. Then, there is the Varsity Jr. This is also in Atlanta, on Lindbergh Drive.....It is pretty small. I actually lived in an apartment a stone's throw from this one. Literally a 5 minute drive. Strangely, I never went to the Varsity Jr. until I moved away. I don't know what I was thinking. Temporary insanity, I guess. Now, the Varsity Jr. is the one I go to most often when I'm visiting. And little did I know that the Varsity is now serving up artery clogging goodness in Norcross, Alpharetta, and Kennesaw, as well.

So, here's what I recommend......I'd go with the number one combo......The two chili dawg/fries or onion rings/Coke. Best thing on the menu, by far. It's great if you're there with someone else, cause then one of you can get 0-rings and one can get fries, and you go halfsies. On this last visit, we also tacked a slaw dog onto the order to split. Very, very good. Kind of refreshing and light (as refreshing and light as a hot dog can be!), after the heaviness of the chili. And if you enjoy creamsicles, you should indulge in an F.O. (a Frosted Orange). It's like a creamsicle milkshake. If that's not your thing, you can get a chocolate shake....also very yummy. We also got a fried peach pie for dessert. I have to say, I didn't really care for it, but apparently lots of people love it. Maybe, I was just in too much of a food coma to be able to enjoy it.

Dog Wash

This past weekend, my friend T and I took our dogs out to Sudbury for a charity dog wash. The weather report was kinda sketchy......scattered thunderstorms during the day. We decided to go to lunch at All Star Sandwich Bar in Inman Square before the dog wash (by the way....Yummy! Have to go back and try a gazillion more sandwiches http://www.allstarsandwichbar.com/). On the drive over to the sandwich place, the sky looked very ominous. Wasn't sure if the dog wash would happen.

Once we collected the dogs after lunch, and started the drive out to Metrowest, it started to sprinkle. Then rain a little bit harder. Damn! We were also cutting it close timewise....it was about 2:00 and it was supposed to end at 3:00. I thought maybe the dog wash people would have packed it up early if it started raining. Fortunately, when we got there around 2:30, it stopped raining and the sun came out again.

So, for $12 each (with the proceeds going to Save A Dog http://www.saveadog.org/), our dogs got a lovely shampoo and condition courtesy of Laundromutt (http://www.laundromutt.com/). Laundromutt is a self service dog wash in Cambridge, near Fresh Pond.,....another place I need to check out. We chatted with one of the super friendly owners of LaundroMutt while the dogs shook all the water off of themselves. Then we went to the dog sundae bar.....where the dogs got Frosty Paws (special doggie frozen treats) and we could put about 12 different treats on top....biscuits, liver snaps and other various goodies......dog jimmies, if you will. The dogs loved it....well, maybe not the bath part, as evidenced by the picture I've posted. Jake definitely tried to make a break for it, mid-bath.

Love going to stuff like this!